Answer to Question 1
Benefits: In general, gains from the stability of the area and reduced uncertainty. The efficiency gain from a fixed exchange rate with euro is greater when trade between, say Norway and the euro zone, is extensive than when it is small. A major economic benefit of fixed exchange rates it that they simplify economic calculations and provide a more predictable basis for decisions that involve international transactions than do floating rates. The monetary efficiency gain from pegging, say the Norwegian krone to the euro, will be higher if factors of production can migrate freely between Norway and the euro area. The more extensive are cross-border trade and factor movements, the greater is the gain from a fixed cross-border exchange rate.
Costs: A country that joins an exchange rate area gives up its ability to use the exchange rate and monetary policy for the purpose of stabilizing output and employment. When the economy is disturbed by a change in the output market, a floating exchange rate has an advantage over a fixed rate. A flexible exchange rate automatically cushions the economy's output and employment by allowing an immediate change in the relative price of domestic and foreign goods. When the exchange rate is fixed, purposeful stabilization is more difficult because monetary policy has no power at all to affect domestic output and employment.
Answer to Question 2
We will expand on this idea, which is roughly the theory of an optimum currency area as developed by Mundell. A major economic benefit of fixed exchange rates is that they simplify economic calculations and provide a more predictable basis for decisions that involve international transactions than do floating rates. This gain in monetary efficiency would be even higher if the factors of production could migrate freely. The costs of joining a fixed-exchange rate area is that a country gives up the ability to use the exchange rate and monetary policy to stabilize the domestic economy. So, if a country has a well-integrated economy with those in the fixed-exchange rate area, then the benefits would likely outweigh the costs.
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